My Choice
by Ariana Hufflepuff
Summary: Draco's being forced to marry Astoria, in a last ditch effort to stop the madness, he tells his mum he's dating Potter. Except he hasn't talked to Harry since the war and now Narcissa wants to dine with him.


_This is for the contest winner on Drarry is Canon, Kami ! Thank you for being patient, love! I enjoyed your submission and I hope I got this right. :) _

_Peace, love, and Harry Potter!_

* * *

"Mother, I'm already dating someone!" Draco had yelled. He realized immediately, by the glint in her eyes that this was a mistake. She smirked and shifted in the large, green chair by the fireplace.

"Who?" she demanded, sipping her wine and raising an eyebrow in challenge. He ground his teeth together. Who indeed. Who would be acceptable enough to get her to lay off the absurd idea that he was to marry Astoria? There was only one male who'd be good enough, bring their name out of the gutter, and it was his name that spilled out of Draco's mouth, digging his hole a bit deeper.

"Potter."

She smirked, put her drink down and stood up. She held her arms out wide.

"Invite him over for dinner. I haven't seen him since that battle at Hogwarts. It will be nice to officially thank him for everything."

Draco hesitated. There's no way Potter would agree to come to the Manor for dinner with his mother...

"Draco, darling?"

"Yes, of-of course. I'll Owl him now."

Draco hurried up to his room and grabbed some parchment. Maybe he could ask Potter to have a drink with him, snag some of his hair and convince Blaise to polyjuice into him? It was the only plan he had, so he hurriedly wrote out the request and gave it to his eagle owl. The bird managed to cuff him in the neck as it took flight, irritated at Draco for not letting it out sooner. He rubbed at his neck with a sinking sensation in his stomach.

To his utter surprise, Potter did agree to meet him. Only in public with plenty of witnesses and he had stressed that he wasn't sure what Draco was up to, but he would be working that out. Draco had smirked at the response. He still made Potter uneasy. That was some silver lining.

They met at the Leaky Cauldron. Potter was predictably wearing Muggle clothes, although these at least seemed to fit him. The tight black t shirt left little to the imagination, it seemed to hug him very snuggly. Draco licked his lips nervously and smiled.

"Potter, I'm surprised you agreed."

Harry rolled his eyes and ordered a drink before responding.

"So what do you want, Malfoy?"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Straight to the point then, my mother wishes to properly thank you by having you over for dinner."

Harry snorted. Draco's hand tightened on his drink. If the git made one rude comment about his mother, it was going in his face.

"At the Manor? Will you be there?"

He shrugged and relaxed a bit.

"That's the plan."

Harry slammed his drink, put the glass down and turned to face him. His eyes were extremely bright and his grin a bit lopsided.

"Alright, I suppose I owe her that much," he said.

"You've got something in your hair," Draco said suddenly and lunged forward. He grabbed the imaginary fluff and yanked it out with a couple hairs. Harry howled in pain and grabbed at his head.

"Are you mad?" He snarled. "You're pulling my hair out over a bit of fluff!"

"Well if you took better care of your appearance, I wouldn't have to!" Draco sneered. He stood up. "I'll Owl you with a time and date. DO try to be presentable, no Muggle clothing, I expect robes."

He went to leave, turning his back on Potter. He didn't get far before he felt a wand at his back and Harry's hand on his shoulder, steering him outside. He felt Harry move so his lips were next to his ear, the alcohol on Potter's breath invading his sense as he whispered, "Why did you take my hair, Malfoy?"

Harry lead them into the Muggle world and down an alley before shoving him against a wall.

"Start talking."

He opened his mouth stupidly a couple of times before he finally he settled with a look of disgust and said, "Are you really that paranoid?"

Harry blinked at him a few times, smirked and said, "Accio hair!"

He got hair, some blonde and two dark black. Harry shoved them under Draco's nose.

"That proves nothing, Potter. You're being ridiculous. If you can't act normal with even this, perhaps it would be a disaster to have you over."

He straightened his robes and brushed off the non existent dirt, scowled at Potter and walked further into the alley to disapparate.

"Watch for my Owl, Potter."

Harry didn't trust Malfoy. He had clearly taken his hairs and the only thing he (and Ron) could agree on was that it was for polyjuice potion. Hermione had scoffed at the idea, seemingly taking Malfoy's side. It was like Hogwarts all over again, they considered her a traitor and were refusing to talk to her. Only until after the dinner, she was still their friend after all.

Harry doubted very much he was dressed to Malfoy's standards. He was wearing black dress robes but his hair was as crazy as ever and the robes were a bit wrinkled. Oh well. There wasn't much of a reason to try, was there? So he Apparated right outside the wards for the Manor and approached the gates. A white peacock hurried past the gates when they opened for him, ruffling its feathers angrily.

When he finally reached the door, Harry raised his hand to knock but it swung open before he could. A tiny, female (it was hard to tell) house elf was standing there, greeting him with a flickering smile.

"Welcome, sir."

Harry nodded at it and stepped inside. As soon as he had a curse hit him. The Imperius curse was invading his senses, pushing out thought and causing him to go limp. A couple moments passed and vaguely he could hear Malfoy muttering near him, his voice sounding pained..

"Hairs a mess, robes wrinkled, there's a feather on his arse, why?"

Malfoy moved into Harry's sight, his brow wrinkled.

"I didn't want to do this, you understand? My hand is being forced. You're going to be my boyfriend for tonight. You can kill me later."

Malfoy was blushing hard now. The first order came.

_Put your arm around me._

That's when Harry came back to himself. He gasped as for air as if he couldn't breathe and then shot Malfoy a look, before pulling Draco close and resting a hand on his hip.. This plot wasn't what he had expected, but he wanted to see how it played out. Draco lead him down the hallway and they approached the same room the Snatchers had taken them to during the war. Harry hesitated.

He really didn't want to go into that room. Suddenly, Hermione's screams were echoing around him. He took a couple steps back. He was leaving, he shouldn't have agreed to come in the first place, and going along with this ruse was too much. He spun on his heel and had his hand on the door when his body jerked to a stop. He hadn't thrown the curse but left the connection alone so he could hear Malfoy's orders, panic flooded through him as he realized his emotional slip let the curse get a better grasp on him. Malfoy's voice was babbling in his ear.

"Potter, you can't leave. We'll use the other dining room. I'll have Snazzy alert mother."

He tugged Harry back around and they took a right instead of going forward. Malfoy snapped his fingers and an elf appeared. Harry focused on regaining some semblance of control. His fear was lapping at his senses. He should have thrown it immediately! He had gotten sloppy and now he was going to pay for it.

They went into a small dining room, than the one the Snatchers had taken them to. It had three chairs at the table and Harry wondered why they wouldn't have used this room in the first place. That other room was much too large for three people. It had a better color scheme as well, bright white walls with green trimming on the walls. The whole room seemed to glow green. There were no windows.

He felt Draco twitch at the same moment he heard the footsteps. Draco turned to him and the next command came to Harry, a bit panicky.

_Kiss me!_

He felt a giddiness steal over him as he pulled Draco close and kissed him. It started out soft, but as soon as Harry had the opportunity, he shoved his tongue between Malfoy's lips. His hands slowly ran down Malfoy's arms until he had both wrists tight in his hands and he pulled them behind Draco, backing him up until the table screeching against the floor alerted him that Malfoy was up against it. He felt Draco moan into the kiss and Harry responded with one of his own.

Harry yelped and pulled away when a stinging jinx hit him on the arse. Scowling he turned to find Narcissa Malfoy standing in the doorway, her head cocked to the side and a frown on her face.

"Draco, where are your manners?"

Harry shook himself and moved to stand closer to Draco.

"Mother, this is-"

"I know who he is," she snapped. Her eyes swept over Harry. "How have you been, Mr. Potter?"

When the order came to shake her hand, Harry froze. He needed to throw this. There was a long pause, where the Malfoy's exchanged looks. He could feel Draco's panic through the curse and it lifted. It was as though he was breathing again and he shook himself. He glanced at Draco who looked pale, his blue eyes wide. Harry smirked at him and took Narcissa's hand.

"I'm doing well, how are you?"

He kissed her hand and then let go, grabbing for Draco and yanking him close. He was stiff with fear. Harry was buzzing with amusement. Malfoy had to know the curse was no longer in effect. Draco pulled away, shooting Harry a questioning look as he pulled out a chair for Narcissa and then one for Harry. He raised an eyebrow as Harry kissed his cheek and took a seat.

Draco was numb. Potter was clearly no longer under the curse. The magic attaching them was no longer there. Yet, Potter was keeping up the ruse. Was he waiting to arrest him once they were alone? He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a seat next to Potter.

His mother was making small talk, discussing life after the war. Asking Harry about the Weasley's, Ms. Granger, about his job. Potter was being pleasant enough, smile on his face, eyes bright. Draco jumped when he felt Potter's hand on his leg,moving closer and closer to his-

Draco jumped up.

"Po-Harry, can I have a word in private?"

He couldn't take it anymore. Harry excused himself and followed Draco into the hallway. He pointed his wand at the door and put some silencing charms up. His mother couldn't be allowed to hear this. He whirled around, intending to demand an explanation, but Harry pushed him against the wall.

"Fancy, spellwork, Malfoy," he growled. "Didn't you hear the rumors that I could throw off the Imperius curse? I've been able to since 4th year."

Draco didn't answer. He just looked straight ahead. His body was so tense from fear and even though Potter's hands were roaming, he couldn't bring himself to speak or move. Potter leaned closer to his ear.

"This has been enlightening though, I didn't think I'd enjoy kissing you so much."

Draco blushed. His voice seemed to come back and he opened his mouth.

Only to have Potter cover it with his hand.

"Don't talk, Malfoy."

Anger surged through him and Draco finally found his strength. He shoved Potter hard.

"If you're going to arrest me, do it!" He snarled. He held out his hands. "Don't play around."

Harry grinned.

"The only way I'm going to tie you up is when you're in my bed, Malfoy. I don't know the story behind this plan, it was poorly carried out though."

Draco turned red.

"If you would have let me keep those hairs-"

"So you did try to take them?"

He snapped his mouth shut. He knew it wasn't a good idea to talk to an Auror like this. He was digging himself a hole.

"Potter, read me my rights and get this over!"

"Let me put it to you this way, Malfoy. You go out on a real date with me, explain this, and I won't arrest you."

He blinked.

"A date?" Draco asked.

"Yes, a date."

He looked down and then back up, chewing on his lower lip.

"You're serious?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Do I need to shove my hand down your pants to prove it?"

Draco smirked.

"Well, it would be nice."

"Can we go tonight?" Harry asked, taking a step closer. His green eyes boring into his own.

"Yes, but a classy place, nothing muggle."

"'Course not," Harry said, grabbing Draco by the tie and tugging him closer for a kiss.


End file.
